Creditors of MTS subsidiary in Uzbekistan repeat call for liquidation
TASHKENT. April 16 (Interfax) - The creditors of Uzdunrobita LLC, the Uzbek subsidiary of Russian big three mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) , at a meeting on Tuesday approved for a second time a measure seeking liquidation of the company, a source in government circles told Interfax.
A majority of the creditors voted in favor of seeking a court order declaring the operator bankrupt and subject to liquidation, the source said.
The economic court in Tashkent will hold a hearing on the filing on April 22.
Uzdunrobita filed for bankruptcy at the economic court in Tashkent on January 18. At a meeting on March 5, the MTS subsidiary's creditors decided to open liquidation proceedings against it and asked the court to declare the company bankrupt.
However, on March 11 the court rejected the creditors' request to open liquidation proceedings, instead prolonging the monitoring procedure at Uzdunrobita.
Uzbek regulatory bodies initiated inspections against Uzdunrobita last June. That same month, the Prosecutor General's Office sanctioned searches in the company's offices, the seizure of documents and the arrest and mass interrogation of employees.
On July 17, MTS was forced to freeze its operations in Uzbekistan in line with demands by the State Communications Inspectorate, shutting off communications services to more than 9.5 million cell phone users across the country.
On September 17, the Tashkent city court rendered its verdict against four of Uzdunrobita's top managers and passed non-custodial sentences, in addition to transferring the company's property to the state.
The Prosecutor's Office has accused Uzdunrobita's top managers of taking money from the company by procuring equipment at inflated prices, as well as by "organizing a criminal group for the purpose of extracting unsupervised profit."
On November 8, the appeals board upheld Uzdunrobita's appeal and overturned the earlier ruling transferring the company's property to the state. It set financial claims against the company at $600 million with an option for paying that off over eight months' time.
The board also ruled that Uzdunrobita was a civilian defendant in the case against the four managers and lifted the earlier-imposed freeze on company property. The verdict on the managers was left in force.
Overall, the claims made against the company by the General Prosecutor's Office, anti-monopoly entities, SACI and tax bodies surpass $1 billion, which is equal to the amount of investments that MTS made in the development of its Uzbek business.